Controlling an infrared responsive device

Abstract

A technique includes receiving a command packet over a radio frequency communication link and determining whether additional processing of the command packet is needed. Based on the determination, the technique includes selectively communicating an indication of the command packet over an infrared communication link and communicating an indication of the command packet over the radio frequency communication link.

1 . A method comprising: 
 receiving a command packet over a radio frequency communication link;    determining whether additional processing of the command packet is needed; and    based on the determination, selectively communicating an indication of the command packet over an infrared communication link and communicating an indication of the command packet over the radio frequency communication link.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the receiving comprises receiving the command packet by a first entity; and 
 the communication of the indication of the command packet over the radio frequency link comprises communicating with a second entity separate from the first entity.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the second entity comprises a computer system.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining comprises determining whether the command packet contains voice data.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising: 
 performing voice recognition on the digital voice data to generate another command packet to be communicated across the radio frequency communication link.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 receiving the command packet from a remote control device.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 communicating the command packet to a target device to control the target device.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the target device comprises at least one of the following: a television, a video disc-based player and an audio player.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 generating the command packet for transmission over the radio frequency link by at least one of a personal digital assistant and a cellular telephone.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the communicating the indication of the command packet over the infrared communication link comprises: 
 controlling a pulse data stream of the infrared signal in response to the command.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the command packet is part of a sequence of commands communicated in response to a function indicated by a user.  
     
     
         12 . An article comprising a storage medium readable by a processor-based system and storing instructions to, when executed, cause the processor-based system to: 
 receive a command packet over a radio frequency communication link,    determine whether additional processing of the command packet is needed, and    based on the determination, selectively communicate an indication of the command packet over an infrared communication link and communicate an indication of the command packet over the radio frequency communication link.    
     
     
         13 . The article of  claim 12 , the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor-based system to: 
 communication the indication over the radio frequency link to a second entity separate from the first entity.    
     
     
         14 . The article of  claim 13 , wherein the second entity comprises a computer system.  
     
     
         15 . The article of  claim 12 , the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor-based system to: 
 determine whether the command packet contains digital voice data.    
     
     
         16 . The article of  claim 15 , the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor-based system to: 
 perform voice recognition on the digital voice data to generate another command packet to be communicated across the radio frequency communication link.    
     
     
         17 . The article of  claim 12 , the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor-based system to: 
 receive the command packet from a remote control device.    
     
     
         18 . The article of  claim 12 , the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor-based system to: 
 communicate the command packet to a target device to control the target device.    
     
     
         19 . The article of  claim 12 , wherein the target device comprises at least one of the following: a television, a disc-based player and an audio player.  
     
     
         20 . The article of  claim 12 , the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor-based system to: 
 control a pulse data stream of the infrared signal in response to the command.    
     
     
         21 . A system comprising: 
 a first wireless interface to receive and transmit over a radio frequency communication link;    a second wireless interface to communicate with a target device over an infrared communication link; and    a processor to control the communication with the target device over the infrared communication link in response to a packet received over the first wireless interface directed to the target device.    
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the processor uses the first wireless interface to offload processing of the packet to a computer separate from the system.  
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the processor offloads the processing to the computer in response to the packet containing voice data.  
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the second wireless interface comprises a bi-directional interface.